10 Biggest (And Weirdest) Lawsuits In Star Wars History

4. These Are The Droids Lucasfilm Is Looking For

Star Wars C3PO R2D2
Disney

Though the word "android" has been around for a couple of centuries at this point, it didn't start to become popularized until much more recently.

In fact, the original Star Wars is one of the mid-20th century works that is credited with bringing the word more into the forefront. More specifically, the shortened version, "droid", was first used by Lucas in that film, something that ended up leading to a rather bizarre legal standoff over 30 years later.

In the late 2000s, Lucasfilm actually trademarked the word "droid". Yes, really. This filing mentioned that it should cover all kinds of technology and devices - including mobile phones, computer software, and digital cameras - so when Verizon released its Droid line of mobile phones a short while later, the company had to seek Lucasfilm's permission to use that term. This permission was granted, and Lucasfilm received a cut of the profits on each phone sold. Easy money.

In 2010, Lucasfilm's lawyers opted to vigorously defend their droid trademark by sending a cease-and-desist letter to Matt Cooper, the CEO of digital advertising startup Addroid. Cooper reportedly contacted Lucasfilm and was told that the case wouldn't be let go without a fight, which seems more than a little bit harsh considering that nobody in their right mind would associate R2-D2 and C-3PO with a random advertising business.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!